By Jean K. Lawson
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a brain-based disorder. Students with autism think, learn, and process information differently from neurotypical students. While we cannot change the way students learn, we can change the way we provide instruction so they can learn in ways that are best for them.
Teaching students with autism begins with understanding the differences in learning. Students with autism have disturbances of speech, language, and nonverbal communication; and disturbances in relating appropriately to people, events, or objects. Some may also have disturbances of responses to sensory stimulation or disturbances of developmental rates and sequences.
What does all this mean for you as you prepare and present instruction?
Help from the Individualized Education Plan
Your first resource will be Form F: Accommodations and Modifications from the student’s IEP. Your involvement on the team is vital for planning and providing an appropriate education for the student and creating an environment for student success.
There is often confusion about what constitutes an accommodation and what is a modification. Differentiated Instruction, which are adjustments in teaching methods or materials to accommodate each student’s learning needs and preferences, are not included on Form F. Those are to be provided to all students, whether they have a disability or not.
• Accommodations are changes in procedures or materials that increase equitable access. They generate comparable results for students who need them and allow these students to demonstrate what they know and can do. For example, a student may listen to the audio version of a book while peers are reading the same book. Or a student might be given extra time to complete the same test that peers are taking or may be allowed to use a keyboard rather than writing his answers.
• Modifications are changes in procedures or materials that change the construct of the educational task that make it difficult to compare results with typical peer results. These allow students to demonstrate what they know and can do in a non-standardized way. For example, a student may be given a shorter or easier assignment than peers. Or a student might have fewer spelling words or a different spelling list than peers.
Help from Knowing Your Students
The following information about students with autism can give you an awareness and specific tips for teaching students with autism. As you build a relationship with each student personally and collaborate with other staff who work with the student, your effectiveness as a teacher will increase. Students with autism are unique in the way they are impacted and in the support they need. As students grow and change, educators need to grow and change to meet their educational needs.
Disturbances of Speech, Language,
and Nonverbal Communication
What It Looks Like
• Expressive language: Some students are nonverbal or may say random words but not with communicative intent. Others are verbal, but their syntax and grammar make it difficult for them to make themselves understood. Or if something isn’t as they expected and they “get stuck,” it can be difficult for them to express what they are having difficulty with, even when specifically asked what’s wrong.
• Receptive language: Some students may have poor receptive language and not understand what they hear, even though it seems like they do. Many will use context cues to know what to do, e.g., watching what other students are doing or knowing what comes next in the schedule. Sometimes when students hear multi-step directions, they latch on to only the last one.
• Processing information: Some students may process information more slowly, especially if it is novel. It may be misinterpreted as noncompliance or not understanding.
• Conversations: Some students may not initiate or respond to greetings, engage in a normal back-and-forth conversation, or stay on topic. Some students with autism who have become writers as adults provide insights about what it’s like to be a child with autism. Several of these individuals have written that conversations happen so quickly it’s difficult for them to jump in and be a part of the conversation.
What You Can Do
• Providing instruction:
º Reduce the amount of information presented; teach material in chunks.
º Use graphic organizers; assist the students in filling one out or provide one completed, if needed.
º Specifically identify the main idea.
º Associate new information to previously learned information.
º Provide examples; the more abstract the content, the more examples you need to give.
• Giving directions
º Use fewer words. Be explicit and repeat what you say. If there are multiple steps, identify them, and tick them off with your fingers: e.g., First, put your supplies in your desk; second, push in your chair; third, get your jacket; fourth line up for recess. If the student gets stuck on or skips a step, you can repeat the instructions again with your fingers.
º Use a gesture or a hand sign when giving a direction. You can look up some simple ones for common instructions and use them for all students, e.g., stand up; sit; stop; wait; go. Many online video learning songs include sign language, which are fun for all students to learn and use. Beckon with your finger when asking a student to come to you. Point when telling where to find something in the room or where to sit or stand.
º Make auditory-visual connections by using posters for routines or quick-drawn pictures or diagrams on the board. If the student can read, the written word is a visual form that can help with understanding.
º Use visuals for steps used often, e.g., cut, glue, color. Place these in order on the student’s desk to show what to do.
º If you repeatedly play certain games, write the rules on a poster board and review them before playing. Keep them handy for reference and for classmates to refer to if a problem develops.
º If you find yourself repeating the same directions over and over, it’s time to make a visual for it. Then you can show it when you give the directions so that all students understand.
• Encouraging conversation
º Greet students and wait for a response; if there isn’t one, instruct them to give one, e.g., “Say, ‘good morning.” Or if they can read, show them an index card with the words on it. Encourage peers to greet each other and teach them that sometimes they might not get a response and that’s okay.
º Keep students on track if they are getting off-topic by saying, “Right now we are talking about ____. Can you think of something to say about that?” Provide an idea if they can’t think of one to get them focused.
º After asking a question, wait time is important. Wait time allows for process time, think time, and response time. Be patient and teach other students to be patient, too. Try counting slowly to 10 in your head.
Disturbances in Relating Appropriately to People
What It Looks Like
• Personal space and physical contact: Students with autism may not acknowledge other children and appear to be in their own world. They may interact in unusual ways with peers to try to connect, e.g., getting very close to a person’s face, frequently touching them in ways that hurt. Some students will avoid any kind of touch and may react with a verbalization or physically if they are touched or someone is too close.
• Eye contact: Students with autism may not look people in the eyes. Some turn to the side or turn their backs on the person talking to them. Writers with autism have described eye contact as painful or distracting and looking in someone’s eyes prevents them from focusing on conversation or processing information.
• Relationships: A difficulty in forming friendships does not equal a dislike for friends. Many writers with autism have described their childhood as lonely because they did not know how to make friends. Additionally, they may not be able to share in imaginative play.
What You Can Do
• Teaching personal space and physical contact
º For students who get too close, you can put tape on a shared table or on the floor to designate an area to stay in. If you do this for the student with autism, plan to do it for more students rather than singling one person out. You can use it as a friendship lesson for appropriate physical contact.
º Teach appropriate physical interactions, e.g., “You can give an air high-five or a thumbs up.”
º For students who react when someone touches them, teach them appropriate words or gestures to use to communicate, e.g., holding a hand up to indicate “stop,” or saying things like, “You’re in my space” or “Please move away.” Teach others to respect these words and step away.
• Getting eye contact: There are different approaches for dealing with eye contact for students with autism. Some say to ignore it completely and others try to train eye contact. If it is extreme, without focusing too much on this issue, you can say things like,
º “Turn your body toward the person who is talking to you.”
º “I know it may be hard to look me in the eye when we talk, but I need to know you’re hearing and understanding me” and then develop a signal the student can use, like a thumbs up, to show understanding or agreement.
º “Eyes up here” or “Look this way.”
• Developing relationships
º Model acceptance, patience, and love of each student. Notice and comment on strengths of each child so others will see that everyone can do something. Rotate helpers and leaders so each student can have a function in the classroom.
º Explicitly teach your class how to be a friend.
º Make statements to help students know they have friends, e.g., “You are sitting at the table with all your friends,” or “You have lots of friends in this class”; and statements to affirm friends skills, e.g., “You are a good friend when you wait your turn” or “when you share your supplies.”
º Create activities where students share something they like about another student.
º Use visual posters and social stories about social rules and expectations for the whole class.
º Ask your library for books that you can read to your class about differences. Teach your class to be accepting and kind to each other.
º Look for students who naturally want to help other students and pair them up in seating arrangements and group projects.
Restricted or Repetitive Patterns of Behavior,
Interest, or Activities
What It Looks Like
• Repetition: Some students exhibit stereotyped or repetitive movements, use of objects or speech. Their use of objects may not be age-appropriate or in a functional way. They may line up toys or food; flip objects; spin wheels on a toy car; jump up and down; flap their hands, rock, repeat what others say or phrases from movies or commercials.
• Special interests: Some students have a strong attachment or preoccupation with specific topics like trains, dinosaurs, presidents, states, weather, etc.
• Rigidity in routines: Students with autism look for familiarity in the environment. They may insist on things always being the same and may have difficulty when the routine or schedule changes; changing from one activity or place to another in the classroom or from room to room; leaving work unfinished before moving on. They may also want their work to be perfect.
What You Can Do
• Dealing with repetition: Recognize that some of the stereotyped behaviors have a function to help the student manage emotions and to bring order to a confusing world. Some of the behaviors can be ignored.
º You can mention or ask the student about it, but you might not receive an answer: “I think when you jump you are excited.” “Does your string help you to be calm?” “I see you’ve put all the raisins in a circle. I see other circles in the classroom, like the clock.”
º Disruptive behaviors may need redirection. For a student who jumps or flails in line, you might say, “Give yourself a big hug and hold yourself together while we stand in line.” Also instruct other classmates to give themselves a big hug. Or “Hug yourself while we walk in the hall. You can jump and run when we get outside for recess.”
º Behaviors may indicate the need for more frequent breaks, which can be interspersed throughout the day. It might be as simple as getting a drink of water or looking out the window; it might be running an errand to the library or office or jumping on a trampoline.
• Tapping into special interests: Remember that memorizing interesting disconnected facts is not the same as understanding abstract relationships about a topic. Help students who can recite numerous facts to make connections about that information to life. Use a student’s special interests throughout the day for connection and motivation. For example,
º Make a black-and-white printout of the presidents’ faces and a color version. Cut out the presidents from the color copy and give the student presidents throughout the day for completion of activities or tasks.
º Make trading cards of presidents or states and include the whole class in collecting cards.
º Let the student who loves weather be your daily weather reporter or have the class observe and graph daily weather.
º Print out worksheets that have dinosaurs or trains around the border.
• Managing rigidity: Establishing routines and structures is very important to create a healthy learning environment for all children.
º Post a daily schedule. Use a symbol that represents a change to the schedule that can be placed on a time noting the change that day so students can be prepared for a change in routine.
º Create a portable schedule for the student to carry with them. Use words, pictures, or both, depending on what is meaningful to the student.
º Periodically, let the students know how much time is left before moving on to the next activity.
º When a student “gets stuck” and can’t move on, it might be that an expectation isn’t being met, e.g., “I thought after this activity, we were going to recess,” but you direct the group to the carpet. Ask the student if you can help him make the transition, acknowledge that “normally we go to recess now, but this time we’ll go to the carpet first.” Give the student extra time to think things through and join you when he is ready.
Disturbances of Responses to Sensory Stimulation
What It Looks LIke
• Some students with autism may exhibit behaviors related to sensory integration disorders. Behavior may be hyperactive or unresponsive and can be auditory, visual, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, and kinesthetic responses.
• These unexpected behaviors can range from mild to intense, which can be verbal, physical, or both. You may know right away what caused the behavior. Or you might not have noticed anything that triggered it.
What You Can Do
• Be observant and think about what just happened before the behavior that might have been a trigger. Remain calm and quiet. If the student isn’t able to communicate the problem to you, make a guess, e.g., “Is that loud noise bothering you?”
• For students who have consistent reactions, have a plan and teach the student to implement it, e.g., “Remember, if it’s too loud, you can put on your headphones.”
• Have alternatives for sensory reactions in activities you plan, e.g., gloves for students who don’t want to put their hands in dirt when planting seeds; paintbrushes for spreading liquid glue.
• If you are doing cooking and smells or tastes are overwhelming, the student might just observe, or just stir the mixture.
• Prepare a Quiet Zone in your classroom where students can go when they are feeling overwhelmed so they can remain in class and then rejoin the group when they are ready.
Disturbances of Developmental Rates and Sequences
What It Looks Like
• Students with autism may have a noticeably different rate and order of learning from their peers. They may exhibit splinter skills, where some skills fall below their peers, some far above and some normal. They may regress in skills they had learned; they may learn at an exceptional rate and retain what they learn.
• Students with autism may not be able to learn at the pace of peers; understand deeper, more complex concepts; be independent in self-care, including hygiene, toileting, and eating.
What You Can Do
• Learn what you can about how the student with autism learns by reading the present level of functioning in their IEP. This section documents where they were the previous year and their level at the time the IEP was revised. From this information, you will see what progress was made in a year’s time.
• Talk to other members of the IEP team about their patterns of learning and supports in place to meet their needs and help them to be successful.
• Remember you are not alone. A team exists for your students’ education that includes special education teachers, therapists, family members and others. Collaborating with the team increases the probability of success for the student.
Students with autism in your classroom will stretch you to be a more effective teacher as you discover their uniqueness and target their strengths to provide the most appropriate education for them as individuals. They will increase your classroom capacity for acceptance and kindness for people with differences. Moreover, you have the opportunity to invest in students who will be better prepared for life in the community and the workplace.
Jean K. Lawson has an MA in special education and an autism certificate from Missouri State University. She has taught students with autism at Truman Elementary in Springfield since 2007. Her passion is providing authentic learning experiences for students so they can apply skills while learning them. Her goal is generalizing skills across settings, in the home and community, and eventually in the workplace.